[neilep (OP)]

I don 't recall ever seeing flocks of chickens flying south for the winter !...last time I ate KFC the chicken just stayed put, despite coaxing with a picture of a very sexy piece of corn !!!

I've seen then flap about and launch themselves a few metres...but can a chicken actually fly  ?....

Are there wild chickens that do ?



Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[Hadrian]

well somone thinks they can

http://www.upc-online.org/chicken_flying_contests.html

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[Hadrian]

this may be what you are looking for: (how did you pluck up the nerve to ask it anyway)


The chicken can and often does fly through the air but with hardly the greatest of ease. These in-flight difficulties, which chickens face, are actually a result of both the dynamic processes found in Mother Nature and the deliberate actions of humankind. Let’s explore this and other issues concerning this species, the most common of all birds on the planet, numbering over 25 billion and growing.

Chickens, at least in the wild, are omnivores, that is, they will eat small seeds, herbs, leaves, grubs and even insects and mice. On the other hand, domesticated chickens are forced to eat feed typically loaded with proteins, grains and along with many other artificial supplements meant to alleviate or prevent diseases. During your next visit to the poultry department at your neighborhood store, you will probably encounter the term “free range” chickens. A free-range chicken has a much more enjoyable life with ample room to run about the farmer’s barnyard. Chickens left on their own are gregarious birds that have a communal approach to the incubation of eggs and the raising of young. Many are not so fortunate in commercial chicken production, which often involves raising birds in large crowded rearing sheds that prevent chickens from engaging in many of their natural behaviors. In addition, the commercial production of chickens typically uses genetic selection to create large-breasted birds, which can lead to crippling leg disorders and heart failure. The extra weight alone makes flight nearly impossible.

Both domestic and wild chickens are capable of flying but the domestic version typically can only fly for short distances such as over fences are other obstacles. Chickens fly to explore their surroundings and to flee from any perceived threats. Free-range chickens often have the tips of the longest feathers on one of the wings cut, resulting in an unbalance and preventing the bird from flying much father than a few feet at a time. In fact, it almost looks like a hopping motion rather than an aborted flight trajectory. Wild chickens without clipped wings can fly much greater and higher distances. Perhaps you have seen a gaggle of wild turkeys fly up to high perches in nearby maple trees to spend a restful and safe night? Wild chickens could match that feat and even more!

I bet you didn’t know that chickens were used as oracles in Ancient Rome. Oracles are prophets who are called upon to provide predictions of important upcoming events. In Ancient Rome, chickens were kept in cages and fed scrumptious soft cakes. A Roman citizen in need of such a prediction would call upon a caretaker or pullaris who would open the cage and offer the chicken a piece of cake. If the chicken stayed in the cage and ate, the omen was thought to be good. If the chicken ignored the cake, and flew away, the omen was bad.

As with all things in the natural world, there is much more to the chicken then we often consider. We have used them in countless ways throughout history from fast food to prophecy. Perhaps the next generation of fast food restaurants will offer a bucket of wings, breast with an omen all for one low price!



What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[neilep (OP)]

Hadrian...THANK YOU...fantastic info..cheers.

[daveshorts]

I think it also depends on the breed, the ones that are good eating or lay big eggs are basically too fat. When I was a kid we used to have 20 or so in the garden and when they tried really hard they could get up to about 3 feet - at which point they hit the fence. Bantam chickens on the other hand, which are small and light, basically less highly bred, can fly quite well and will roost at the tops of trees/barns.

The same thing is true of geese, the wild ones can fly thousands of miles, but my parent's big fat white ones attempt to take off every morning, and just about get to 2-3 feet off the ground, at which point they reach the hedge and have to stop.

[Hadrian]

I will never trust an inbreed pilot again.

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[neilep (OP)]

Thanks also for your chicken orientated input Dave....clearly the geese that your parents have need a longer runway or at least a pilots license !! (or is it ' licence  ' ?)

[Hadrian]

they say seeing is believing




What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[neilep (OP)]

..You're right...I can't believe how blue that sky is !!  

[Hadrian]

I got chicken c**p all over my head tossing that bird!

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[neilep (OP)]

quote:Originally posted by Hadrian

I got chicken c**p all over my head tossing that bird!

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

You ' tossed ' that bird ?...you sicko !! []




sorry []

Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[Hadrian]

we all have the right to be happy

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[DoctorBeaver]

quote:Originally posted by Hadrian

I got chicken c**p all over my head tossing that bird!

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

Are you sure it was c**p? []

Brand new forum
http://beaverland.forumup.us/
More than just science

[Hadrian]

of course it has it own taste!

yea i am a sick puppy

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[ukmicky]

What do you get when you cross an Owl and a Rooster?


A cock that stays up all night.


Michael

[Hadrian]

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?

There are two possibilities: One that the distance between the chicken and
the side of the road that it was on before it crossed is expanding, and the
other, that the distance is contracting, and will collapse on itself.

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

[neilep (OP)]

What about WILD chicken ?...are there any ?..and I don't mean chickens that are really angry either !!.....I want to see flocks of Wilder-chickens roaming the african planes !!

[tweener]

Chickens are indigenous to South America - they are "wild" in the jungles of the Amazon.  But those birds don't much resemble your basic Rhode Island Red.  Bantam chickens can fly quite well - not for great distances, but up into trees and such.

----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.

[neilep (OP)]

*SIGH* It takes a chappy recuperating from a knee op to supply the answer kneed. Thanks John.

I suspected that perhaps the chicken ,as we know it, is a bird that has been  bred purely for food and may not resemble it's wilder brethren. In fact I was wondering if no such wild chickens existed and that it was purely the result of a number of crossbreeds of other things (ie: Ostrich and Hummingbird[])

 I wonder how the chicken became the staple fowl of choice.

Thanks John.

Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[Hadrian]

Hawaiian Wild Chicken



What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.